We have some new ground this coming season. It's been corn/soybean land for many years. Given this extra room, we are going to grow some things we quit because of lack of space.
Adding, this year, Eggplant, Bon-Bon squash from Johnny's, Gourds of all descriptions, small pumpkins, & more tomatoes.
Going to try a couple rows of standard tomatoes on Red Plastic Mulch. Will plant the tomatoes 24" apart in the row & stake them somehow. That has not been decided yet.
We are going to try Sugar pod peas on a fence. This is new to us.
We have another high tuinnel now, so will try some things in there. For sure are
Baby Beets from Johnny's.
Early kohlrabi, cauliflower & broccoli.
A new carrot that was terrific last for us. Called Negovia from High Mowing Seeds.
We will have about 7½ acres altogether this year. Plenty of room to try new seeds & ideas.
Bernie
Check my web site; www.countrygardensmn.com

i tried my hand at broccoli this year, but i evidently planted too late, as the winter weather put a big hurtin' on them before they could even form heads, but hey, at least the leaves are edible also, and made for a good pan fried "salad", lol.

I used to make my own pickles but once we moved here to Texas I got away from it. Been working too many long hours. I've tried growing cucumbers down here a couple of times and seem to have missed the mark somehow. But last year I did pretty well so I'm going to try for enough to make some pickles again in '14. I always used to grow Parisian Pickling and Rhinish Pickle so I'll try those and probably add National Pickling just to have three and see which one grows best for me here in Texas. I used to grow Homemade Pickles up north, but that one doesn't seem to like me down here in the south. I'm excited to learn something new for my Southern garden.

My seed list is 125 lines on a spread sheet. So I won't list them all.
26 hot peppers.
30 tomatoes.
7 acres this year. A neighbor gave us a couple acres to use this year.
These are some shots of 2013 garden.
1-Inside a high tunnel with our diligent helper.
2-Watermelons.
3-Cabbage patch for people that ordered in spring for kraut.
4-Zucchini & summer squash.
5-Onions in front & far right. Carrots beyond the onions.

Bernie, You have been raising melons quite a while. I have been and can raise some excellent ones, but have to keep finding new places because of disease [mostly types of wilt]. How do you manage? Don't you have any problems with your plantings on the same area?

Since I have seeds left from last year, I'll probably just plant those. Gotta get the maters started soon! New Year's Day is this week and that's usually when I start them. I also need to order my onions.

Girl,
I'm still trying to catch up to the winter garden! Soon as I get all those seedlings planted out this weekend, I'll start the spring garden thread. And, prayerfully by then, I'll have PICTURES of what's growing for spring, LOL! Actually, this is the latest I've EVER put things out, but, I'm actually excited about the thought of harvesting this as the garden segues into March & April.

I've even MORE excited that it might still be cold enough for cranking up the heat to can the greens and veggies! I did spiced beets for the first time this past weekend. Can't wait to taste them!

P.S. About to start Ozark's new F5 "Sweet Ozark Orange" tomatoes. I promised him a pictorial from start to finish. He's spread some seeds around with some DGers, to trial the stability and document the harvests.

I spent a summer with a dear friend down by Houston a couple of years ago, and the heat actually caught me by surprise. I was outside organizing some things, and the heat started to get me winded and weak much more quickly than i usually do, so i learned my lesson there. ;)

No, I decided the return on the potatoes wasn't worth the investment of real estate.

I had to place a second onion order from Dixondale, just yesterday. I'm afraid the original order I received in November has just about dried up. I've waited too long to plant that batch out, so, oh well...I'd rather start over with a fresh batch of healthy plants to ensure a good harvest. They should arrive around January 10th, so I'll still be on track with the very 1st season I ever planted onions.

Although, getting them in in November would've been the ideal.

Shoot!

Steph,
Are Blue Lake pole beans like green beans in a can? I'm dying to grow green beans and peas, both of which have eluded me... I did grow some Kentucky Wonder green beans last year, in seven self-watering eBuckets. I was surprised they grew sitting on the edge of my patio, under the cover. I got a couple gallon bags of beans still in the freezer.

You all might want to check out either Fortex or Emerite pole beans. They are a filet type bean. I used to grow only filet beans as bush beans until I discovered these. Now my and my husband's backs thank us and the beans produce non-stop until frost unlike the bush varieties as long as one keeps picking them. There is also a yellow filet pole bean variety, French Gold. Both Emerite and French Gold can be bought at Renee's Seeds along with Blue Lake. http://www.reneesgarden.com/seeds/seeds-hm/vegB.htm#bean

Gymgirl ~ next time your onions arrive early, 'heel' them in. Just tuck the bulbs into some loosened soil until you can get them separated and planted. That works for many types of plants, not just bulbs.

Sounds like you girls both need more 'real estate'!
Happy New Gardening Year to all...

Don't remember having a problem with the Fortex being hollow. They can get quite long really fast if I don't watch them so maybe that would make them more hollow. My husband says he prefers the Emerites, which are very similar, so I will be growing those this summer along with Blue Coco (purple which turn green when cooked) and French Gold. Actually I prefer the yellow Ramdor but they are hard to come by in the States. I have to order them from Solana Seeds in Canada. http://solanaseeds.netfirms.com/welcome.html

Renee's seeds used to offer them in a mixed packet with Emerite but no longer (now she offers the Emerites and French Golds as separate packets) so I switched to the French Gold. They are very good too so it's fine.

Gardadore, that was the first time I had that problem with Fortex, and a friend mentioned that the beans she bought at her local farm market had the same problem. Might have been a transitory virus affecting legumes in our area. I did try Emerite once but don't remember being as impressed by them.

I don't find that there is such a great difference between the Fortex and Emerite although I think the Fortex is more robust and grows large very fast. I find the flavor of both to be excellent. Perhaps the Emerite has a more delicate flavor? I didn't grow them last year, just the Fortex, so I kind of forget. I just know I love the flavor even if I can't describe it!
In the end it is truly a matter of personal taste and when one reads different threads on the internet it is interesting how people can fervently favor one over the other! It does sound as if something strange was going on in your area for others to be hollow too! No matter what, growing these pole beans has made string bean growing and harvesting a real pleasure over the bush varieties!